Bunion brace



A. L. SCHENK Sept. 3 1935.

BUNION BRACE Filed Feb. 4, 1955 Attorney or supports designed to be Patented Sept. 3, 1935 UNITED res ATENT oFFicE FUNION BRACE Abraham L. Schenk, Ijfos Angeles, Calif,

Application February 4, 1935,

' 3 claims; (o1.@1g +si)2 This invention has to do in a general way with orthopedic appliances designedto correct deform-- ities in the human foot. More specifically, my invention contemplates improvements in braces I am aware of the this general character have beenqdesigned and manufacturer and the user.

It is a primary object of this invention to pro duce a device of the class described whichmay be easily adjusted by the purchaser to suit either the right or the left foot. Another important feature of the appliance contemplated by this invention resides in the fact that it can be easily regulated so as to Vary the tension applied to the toe by the brace.

of i the engagement of the foot with the appliance itself. With this object in mind, my invention contemplates providing any accompanying drawing, which is chosen for illustrative purposes only, and in which Fig. l is a perspective view illustrating the manner in which a preferred form of my invention is Worn upon the foot;

Fig. 2 is a plan view illustrating further details in the construction vention;

Fig. 3 is a section taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary viewilustrating a modiof a preferred form of my in- Serial No. 4,914

fied form cf construction contemplated by this invention; and

Fig.5 is a section taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4. "More particularly describing the invention as herein illustrated,-reference numeral ll indicates a brace or lever member which is composed of a relatively stiff wire region of the membraneoccupymg the enlarge- Hi formed by cuttoes.

As a further'means of adding to the comfort of thewearer, I propose to I2, bent to' inserting the great toe through the opening I6 and It was previously pointed out as a primary object of this invention to provide a device of the class described which could be worn either on the right or the left foot. This is accomplished by making the wire frame [2, which forms the base for the lever or brace member H, of symmetrical shape and attaching the foot encircling strap 20 to the membrane 14 in a manner such that it can be rotated through 180 as shown in broken lines in Fig. 2, Also the connecting strap 25 is mounted on the strap 20 so that it can be readily removed and turned around. Various types of connections may be employed in effecting these two last mentioned features. For the purpose of illustration, however, and in the preferred form of my invention as it is actually constructed, I attach the strap 20 to the membrane 14 through the medium of a friction buckle 29 which permits longitudinal adjustment of the strap 20, such buckle in turn being attached to the membrane H! by means of a rivet or other suitable connection indicated at 33, which permits free rotative movement of the buckle with respect to the membrane. 25 is attached to the strap 20 by forming a loop 31 on the end of the strap 25. In this way the strap can be simply slipped off of the strap 20 and turned over when it is desired to use the device on the other foot.

With regard to the wire frame l2 it will be understood. that such frame can be made in various ways. As stated above, however, I prefer to form the same from a single piece of relatively stiff wire and, in order to eliminate any possible projections which might cause discomfort to the wearer, I connect the ends of the wire together by undercutting them on adjacent sides through substantially half their diameter to form an overlapping joint as indicated at 33 and then brazing or welding the two overlapping sections together.

As shown in Fig. l, the appliance is worn by then buckling the foot encircling and heel engaging straps. In this way the brace member I I, by virtue of the engagement of the inner surface of the great toe with the membrane I4 is effective to press the great toe outwardly into or toward its normal position. It will be understood, of course, that while a device of this character need be worn only during periods of rest, it is necessary, to effect any material correction, that such a device be worn consistently over a substantial period of time and in severe cases it may be that the tension applied to the great toe, with a view to effecting correction, must be gradually increased from the time of the first application until correction has been completely effected. With this point in mind, it will be observed that the device contemplated by this invention lends itself particularly to such a condition, since it can, be

easily adjusted so as to increase or decrease the tension which is applied to the great toe merely by bending the frame H in either direction.

In some instances it may be found desirable to provide means for preventing vertical movement of the toe while the brace is being worn and, in the modified form of my invention shown in Figs. 4 and 5, I show the forward end of the brace member I l as being provided with a loop 35 adapted to fit over the great toe when the appliance is being worn. In this form of my invention I also show another modification in the cushioning means which surround the opening Hi. Such cushioning means comprises an edge binding of some suitably soft fabric indicated by reference numeral 36.

It will be understood that while I have herein described and illustrated certain preferred forms of my invention the invention is not limited to the precise construction described above but includes within its scope whatever changes fairly come within the spirit of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A foot correcting appliance embodying: an elongated, substantially symmetrical wire frame; a pliable membrane fitted over and secured to said frame, said membrane having an opening therein adapted to receive the great toe; a foot encircling strap pivotally attached to said membrane behind said opening; and a heel engaging strap having one end secured to said membrane and having its other end adapted to be secured to said foot encircling strap on the side opposite said membrane.

2. A foot correcting appliance embodying: an elongated, substantially open frame; a pliable. membrane stretched over and secured to said frame, said membrane having an opening therein adapted to receive the great toe; a foot encircling strap secured to said membrane behind said opening; and a heel engaging strap having one end secured to said membrane and having its other end secured to said foot encircling strap on the side opposite said membrane, said opening be-, ing provided with a cushioned edge.

3. A foot correcting appliance embodying: an elongated wire frame: a pliable membrane fitted over and secured to said frame, said membrane having an opening therein adapted to receive the great toe; a foot encircling strap attached to said membrane behind said opening; a heel engaging strap having one end secured to said membrane and having its other end adapted to be secured to said foot encircling strap on the side opposite said membrane; and means secured to said appliance in front of said opening for supporting the great toe against vertical movement.

ABRAHAM L. SCHENK. 

